'What I Wish I’d Known is a regular series where we ask some of our favourite people in the book industry to reflect on their careers. In this instalment, critics share some of the unexpected and useful things they’ve learned along the way about writing reviews.'
'It was late September 2023, and I was peering into my laptop screen. Four boxes filled the display, three of them occupied by members of the Penguin Random House staff. There was a senior editor, a marketing coordinator and, most nerve-racking of all, the managing editor. The final square was inhabited by a seasoned story consultant. I remember thinking he had a friendly face, and I needed one of those. This was it—the final interview that would decide if I would be awarded the Write It fellowship.'
'Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings Debut Spotlight feature. For September that debut is The Degenerates by Raeden Richardson (Text Publishing). Following the interwoven lives of four characters across India, Australia and the United States, the novel takes root in Melbourne and brings its streets, shopping centres and laneways to life with astounding originality—the city may never be the same again'
'Raeden Richardson’s debut novel has faith in the power of storytelling. It begins in 1976 Bombay with Somnath the shoeshine, a Dalit who dreams of wealth and of sons to pass it down to. But Somnath is a victim of ‘the Emergency’, Indira Gandhi’s totalitarian crackdown on civil liberties. He becomes one of thousands of impoverished Indian citizens sterilised by the government in a drive, they claimed, to curb population growth. Somnath eventually leaves India and settles in Australia, running a chop shop on the outskirts of Melbourne.'
